Metal Swarm - Kevin J. Anderson [206]
Willis set up large thinfilm projection screens on the raft-base to show the Usk disaster in gigantic format. Amidst the appalling destruction, the face of one particular young farmer - his blond hair unruly, his wide eyes reddened - seemed to symbolize the entire crime. He wept unabashedly as he watched his orchards levelled. 'My apples,' he kept wailing. 'My beautiful apples!' After ten minutes Willis had told the technicians to mute the sound. Enough was enough.
Willis inspected her troops who stood in parade formation, filling most of the raft deck. She had dressed in her formal service uniform (though the thing was ungodly hot) with all the froufrou trappings. She had pinned on her medals, strapped on her ceremonial sabre and her sidearm. With her grey hair neatly clipped back, she wore her Admiral's cap, though she didn't waste time with make-up. General Lanyan didn't deserve it.
When the hatch hissed open on the General's troop transport, she whistled for her soldiers to stand straight in ranks. The representatives of Rhejak looked sick, unable to tear their eyes from the repeating images on the giant thinscreens.
'Damned Eddies always stick together.'
'--knew we shouldn't have trusted her.'
'--could have taken out this whole raft with five or six medusas.'
Willis turned a deaf ear to their comments.
Lanyan blinked in the sunlight and stepped forward. Fifteen hand-picked EDF soldiers followed him, all wearing Jupiter uniforms. Willis recognized some of them and fought back another scowl. The General had found the hardest of the hardliners. He seemed to have a knack for that.
Lanyan seemed satisfied with her crisp salute. 'Admiral Willis, this looks like an acceptable reception.'
Willis was all business. 'I took my oath of service a long time ago, General. I know what the Earth Defence Forces and the Terran Hanseatic League stand for, and I pledged my life to serve those ideals.'
'You've had an odd way of showing it lately. I wish to address the troops and the locals. Did you gather representatives of the Rhejak dissidents, as I instructed?'
'They're here, General.' The natives were not difficult to spot, since they were the only ones not in uniform. Several wore little more than loincloths, showing off bronzed skin and muscular bodies, but Lanyan didn't bother to look. 'I prepared a podium for you, sir.' A small speaking stand with automatic microphone pick-ups stood under the blistering sun on the honeycombed deck. She lowered her voice, 'I can also bring you a parasol, if you like.'
He scowled as if she had just insulted him. 'That will not be necessary.'
Lanyan stepped up to the podium and glared at Rhejak's representatives like an angry parent. 'You have brought this punitive action upon yourselves.' He fiddled with the side of the podium, disappointed that his voice wasn't booming from the speakers. He looked at Willis. 'Is this broadcasting? I want everyone on this planet to hear me, as well as your ten Mantas in orbit.'
She gave him an innocent look. 'I'm sorry, General, but we aren't set up for full planetary and orbital broadcasting. My tech team can record your speech for later playback, and we'll distribute it as widely as you like. Or, if you really prefer to address everyone realtime, we can have components flown down from one of my Mantas - or the Jupiter. Would you like my comm officers to set that up? It'll only take a few hours.'
Lanyan was flustered. Obviously, he didn't want to look weak or incompetent. Neither did he want to wait. 'No. Record it and rebroadcast as soon as I'm finished.'
He turned back to the podium and tried to regain his momentum. 'As I said, you have brought this upon yourselves. The Hansa is rebuilding after the greatest war humanity has ever faced. We suffered great damage from the hydrogues, and we must not suffer further damage from our own people. Rhejak's intransigence will no longer be tolerated. The people of Usk learned this lesson at great cost.' He pointed to the thinscreens. 'The rest of the prodigal colonies must now learn the lesson as well.'
Willis